Thermostat



G. E. LEE.

THERMogTAT. APPLICATION FILED MAY I0, 1915.

Pated Apr. 27, 1920.

'lllllua A To all whom it may concern: I

vcitizen of the United States residing at.

vState of nErTEn .STATES PATENT oEEroE.

i GEORGE E. LEE, OE CLEVELAND, oE'I'ojAssIGNOE To THE-'GEORGE E. LEE COMPANY,

or CLEVELAND, OHIO, -A

CORPORATION OF OHIO.

Essener..

l -Applcation led May 10,

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. LEE, ai

Cleveland -in the county of uyahoga and' hio, have invented a lcertain* new and useful Improvement in Thermostats, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relatesto thermostats, and the Object of the invention is to provide ay thermostat in which the flow of gas may be regulated so that the maximum amount of gas liowing may be regulated, and, further,-

to prov'ide a thermostat in wliichthe valve that regulates the flow of gas'or fuel will be positively operated'by the expanding and contracting members. -Further objects of the invention will appear as the construction is described. A Y

Generallyv speaking, the invention may b e said to comprise the elements and combinations thereof set forth in the accompanyin claims. V eference should be had yto the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthe specification, in which Figure 1 1s a vertical section of a construction embodying a form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of athermostat embodying a modified form of my invention.

Thermostats at present in general use, of the type wherein. movement is produced' by differential expansion of metallic bars or.; members, provide-that the -valve be moved in vone direction by the expanding member and in the opposite direction by a spring or other'resilient means. There are certain forms of thermostats which employ a rubber or thin metall diaphragm which is operated by some expanding and contracting member, and in such case the return of the -rubber or metal to its initial and original position is accomplished by the inherent resiliency of the .material itself.

Continued4 use, as well as many other causes, may result in weakening the spring or in some way making it ineffective, so that the return of the controlling valve to its initial position. is very slow` and sometimes completely `destroyed.

In the regulator which forms the subject matter of my invention I provide for the positive, 'operation of the valve,gwh1ch controls the flow of gas in both directions of movement of the valve, so that the valve is specication of Letters Patnt- Patented Apr. et', 1920.

1915. serial 'Na 27nd?.

gositivelyfopefrated, under all conditions. urthermore, I prov1defor the regulation,

of the flow of gas as to the maximum `flow by an adjustment in thethermostat itself.

Referrlng toithe drawings, and more particularly` to Fig. .1 thereof, 1 indicates a casing, which, vupon aside thereof, is .pro-

- vided with a neck the interior of which is threaded and adapted to` receive a pipe -'lthis j being the inlet pipe for the Huid ue, Y..

There is .a hollow extending portion 4 which has an `outwardly extending neck 5,

Ithe interior of the neck being threaded and adapted to receive a pipe 6, which pipe conveysthe gas flowing ont from the thermostat. The interior of the extending portion 4 is threaded andis adapted to receive a' sleeve 7.. This'sleeve is hollow. at least in part, and is adapted to lextend into the chamber of the casing 1. The sleeve 7 -closely engages the walls of the member 4 at the lower portion thereof, so as to provide av substantially as-tight ft. The sleeve 7 isv provided wit openings indicated at 8, by which gas flowing through the sleeve 7 may pass to the pipe 6. At its upper end the sleeve 7 is threaded and coperated with threads uponthe interior part of the extending portion 4. At its outer end sleeve 7 is provided with a head 7a which is shaped to be conveniently engaged by a wrench. A lock nut 9 is adapted .to lock the sleeve 7 with respect to the extending portion 4.

The casing 1 is provided with another neck 10, having the interior portion thereof threaded and ada ted to receive a tubular memberi 1l, whic forms one element of the expanding and contracting elements of the thermostatic couple. vThe element 1 1 is at its lowerendclosed and the rod 15 and element I11 are secured together at their lower end. The members-'13Y and 11 form elements of a thermostatic couple.

The bar -13v'at its upper end is pivotally secured to a lever 14. This lever is fulcrumed intermediate of its ends. The lever 14 has a hub l5. Through this hub there extends a pin 16, the pin being journaled at its ends in the walls of casing 1. It will be understood that the particular point in the lever 14, at which it is pivotis to say, the distance between the tulcrum I it is fastened to it.

point of the lever 14 and the point which it connects with the rod 13 will govern the sensitiveness of the device.

In the present construction I have departed somewhat from usual construction, in

that-'the element 11 oi" the thermostatic couple, is the member which has the higher coeiiicient of expansion, the member 13 being chosen to have a low co-ehi'cient expansion. I have, furthermore, departed from usual construction in that the element 13 of the thermostatic couple is fastened to the element 11. Therefore, .as the element 11 elongates or contracts the element 13 must partake of the motion ,of the element 11 because It is clear that as the element 13-is moved it will move the lever 14 and the valve 19 positively in both ,directions of the movement of.,the,valve. Itl will'be noted that' the sleeve 7', the lower end of which forms the 'seat for valve 19, is removable. The sleeve may be moved to permit inspection, or forfpurposes of cleaning the lower end of the sleeve which serves as avalveseat, and this without disturbing theY i otherV elements of the thermostat.

F or `urposes of assembling the elements ofthe device the casing 1 has an opening at one end which is normally closed by a cover 22.

The lever 14 has secured thereto a spring 25. This spring, at its outer end, `carries a head 2 6. This head is provided with anV `opening through which opening extends a short post 27. The post 27 is provided with a slot 28 and through the 'slot there extends a pin 29, which pin is secured in the head 26. The post 27 carries the val-ve 30, this valve being adaptedto engage the lower end of` the sleeve 7. Between the head 26 andthe valve 30, and surrounding the post 27, is a In the operation of the device shown in y Fig. 1. the downward movement of the valve 30 islimited by the engagement of the post 27 with the stop member It will be seen that this .construction pro-- vides aI means of adjustment to regulate the maximum amount of gas passinginto the burner. Or, perhaps it may be more accurate to say that this adjustment presents a means of regulating the size ofthe opening between the valve 30 and its seat, which opening governs the quantityy of gas sup-l plied to the pipe 6. n A

In Fig. 2 I have shown a form of thermostat which in part is similar to the form shown `i'n Fig. 1, that is to say, the casing with its coperating parts is quite the same as are also the elements forming the thermostatic couple. The valve'inechanism, however, differs from that shownin F ig.

In'thisconstruction I havey provided a .self-contained valve mechanism which may pose of permitting the passage of fuelirom the interior sleeve to the exit pipe 6.

Extending through the upper part oi' the sleeve 35, and centrally `of the hollow' por-y tion of the-sleeve, is a threaded rod 38. This stem has a threaded engagement with the upper part of the sleeve 35 and may be adjusted longitudinally with respect to the sleeve 35.

Adjacent to its` lower end the rod 38 is provided with a slot. 39, which slot is adapted to receive a transverse pin 40. The pin 'is carried by a valve stem 41 which at its lower partis secured to a valve 42. The rod 38 is counter-bored at its lower end to which surrounds the stem 41 and at its op posite ends engages with the 'valve 42 and the lower part of the rod 38, normally holding the valve 42 in .its lowest position. The lower portion of the sleeve'35 is'so formed as to coperate with the valve 42, forming a gas-tight seal when the valve isin engagement with the lower part of the sleeve 35.

The valve 42 isoperatively engaged by an operating element This element is provided with .a certain amount of liexibility for .purposes which haveheretofore been described in connection with the other constructions shown in the drawing. The elereceive the stem '41. `There is a spring 43 i ment 44 is secured to the end of the lever 14,

which lever is operated by the thermostatic couple in vthe same manner as has heretofore been described.

It will be seen that by moving the stemJC 38- it willbe possible to regulate the' maximum opening between 'the valve 42 and the end of the. sleeve 35, thus'permittingan adj ustment to regulate the maximum quantity of gas which may flow. The operation of the valve 42by the thermostatic couple is not interfered with, for the valve 42 may move upwardagainst the actiotn ofthe 44 are moved.

The sleeve 35 is removable together with the valve and its operating' mechanismv as a unit, so that the valve and its valve seat may 125. spring 43 when the lever 45 and the element i ing having an inlet and an outlet, anda valve seat within' said casing, a-valve cooperating with said seat, means for adjusting the said valve seat 'and valve with respect to each other independent ofthe thermostatic couple thereby to control the maxi'- mum opening between the valve and its seat, y a Jthermostatic couple carried bythe casing and operative connections between' the ther.- mostatic couple and the valve. l

2. A thermostatic device comprising a casing having an inlet and outlet, a valve seat within said casing, a valve coperating with saidvalveseat, means for adjusting thevalve and its seat relative to each other independent of the thermostatic couplether'eby to control the maximum openingbetween the valve and its seat, a lever mechanism A within the casing, said lever mechanism being operatively connected with the valve, a

thermostatic couple mounted upon the cas. y ing between said thermostaticv couple and the lever mechanism.

3. A thermostatic device comprising a cas- I mostatic couple with the valve.

14. A thermostatic device comprising a casing having 4an`inlet and outlet opening, a sleeve extending into said casing, a valve cooperating with said sleeve, means --for relatively adjusting the sleeve and valve independent o the thermostatic couple, thereby to regulate the maximum opening between the valve and sleeve, la thermostatic couple and means 'operatively connecting the ing having an inlet-and outlet opening, a sleeve extending into said casing and adjustable with respect to the casing, a valve associated with the inner end of the sleeve, means for relatively adjusting the valve and c0upl e,thereby to regulate the maximum opening between the valve and the sleeve, lever mechanism within the casing, a thermostatic couple .carried by the casing, connections between the thermostatic couple and the lever mechanism, and connections between the lever mechanism and the valve.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature -in the presence of two witnesses.

. GEORGE E. LEE.

Wtnessesz' A. J. HUDSON, LPORTER.

ther- -the sleeve independent of the thermostatic 

